COVENTRY legend Jimmy Hill is resigned to his beloved Sky Blues spending next season in Division One.

The man who was at the helm at the start of Coventry's long run in top-flight football believes the club must start plotting their way back to the big time.

He said: "It's inevitable these days that every club of Coventry's size will have to take a year or two out of the Premiership. It's very sad and of course it hurts me. But the important thing now is for Coventry to start planning for next season.

"I would already be thinking about preparation for getting promotion from Division One, what to do with my players and any funds that I may have, in terms of bouncing straight back from relegation. Charlton have done it and Coventry can, too.

"It's not defeatism that makes me talk like this - it's that five-point gap. There have been miracles before and I am hoping for one - but realistically it is time to get the players' and supporters' minds right so that relegation isn't the end of the world.

"Football is a never-ending race. It could yet be a miserable season followed by a very happy one in Division One."